


Lockwood & Co: The Superhero Edition

by DraketheDragon



Category: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Asexual Relationship, BAMF Flo, BAMF Lucy, Bad Decisions, Gen, Hijinks!, I already have a diffrent multichapter fic that I'm writing, I'll get to all these tags eventually, Property damage is fun!, Skully and Lucy are bros, Supervillians!, The Gangs All Here, The teams really bad at being good guys!, This went from superhero au to alien invasion au super quick, What am I doing, and really bad at decision making, oh well, superheros!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2019-10-24 20:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17711312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DraketheDragon/pseuds/DraketheDragon
Summary: The title says it all.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos appreciated!

Hello, you all know me, I made sure of that. If you are ashling or human and you are reading this I succeeded in my task. Sure, to some of you I might be the Traitor, never to be spoken off but always remembered. To some of you I may be a hero, reluctant as you are to admit it. It doesn’t matter what you think of me, whether you are burning these pages or hanging them in a museum, I succeeded in my task.

I am remembered.

You probably want to know why, why betray my kin, why betray my fellows, why help the enemy. Why why why why why why? There was nothing noble in my intentions, I didn't do it because I liked the humans, nor did I do it because I hated the ashlings. No, this plan of mine has been long in the running, as I’ve walked through worlds and fought not to fade. This plan has been in my mind for centuries. I just needed a catalyst, someone powerful enough to yank me into the light of the known world.

Her name was Lucy Joan Carlyle of Lockwood & Co.

Yes, _the_ Lockwood & Co. The superhero agency who saved the world, who are everyone's heroes. But they were nothing when I found them, two-bit heroes strangled by the regulations of government control. I made them what they are, I made them what they became. This is _my_ story, _not_ theirs.

It just happens to start with a catalyst.


	2. Chapter 1

Ignore him, he always goes on the same track. That it was his story, his, his, his, HIS. The we didn’t play a major part in it, that in the long run we, that I, was inconsequential. We were nothing. His ego wouldn’t let him say anything else. But in truth we were not inconsequential, we were vital. Lockwood, George, Holly, Quill, Flo, and I, he wouldn’t of been able to what he did without us. Without  _ me. _

Now I know you’re wondering why I did it. Why Lucy, did you give up everything? You had potential, you could of been great. Now look at you, you are nothing, weak, useless, your chance at greatness gone.

But you weren’t there.

You didn’t see the darkness crawling through the streets like some creature consuming everything in its path. The people, withering were they stood into monster of ash and smoke. It was a plague, it left nothing in its wake. People, buildings, it didn’t matter, it all was transformed into a nightmarish setting. You didn’t have to live through that, to see people you knew one day then monsters the next. It started out slowly, then spread like a wildfire, and there are still embers today. You can see them, that tree outside your window with great cracks in its bark that looks like its dead but hasn’t rotted yet. That building on the street that looks like its thousands of years old no matter how much money has been poured into restoring it. Little moments like that give you a hint of what we went through, but it's not the full picture. It never is.

Back then we were nothing. Lockwood had brought us together straight from the academy, powers freshly tested and proclaimed under control. We were trash at the superhero business, the papers loved us. “Hero’s as bad as the villains” they called us. George and Lockwood had been roommates, I met them soon after graduating, to pay rent on our apartment we needed a fourth, so Holly came. Then Lockwood got the idea. He gathered us all in the kitchen, said he had his parents house we could move to, and that we could be superheros.

To this day I don’t know how he convinced us.

Our story started as another ordinary day for Lockwood & Co. Biting off more than we could chew. 

 

. . .

 

“GEORGE!!!! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS ONE!!!!!”

That was Lockwood’s voice, rising above the battlefield like white flag. George looked at me, I looked at George. “It’s your turn.”

“I told him last time.” He whined. A molten rock hit and splattered against the electrical shield that I had put up. Lava spattered against the pavement and hissed angrily. The paint of the overturned car we hid behind bubbled like putrid flesh.

“No I told him last.” I said viciously, I kicked him for good measure too. We had that kind of relationship, George and I.

“Why can’t Holly tell him.”

“Because Holly’s at home recovering from yesterday’s debacle.”

“GEORGE!!!!” We looked over to where Lockwood hid behind another car, his rapier gleaming with a golden sheen. He didn’t look like we were doing battle with one of the most deadly villains out there. His face was its normal pale, composed self. His dark hair gleamed, his clothes didn’t look like they’d been scorched, his trenchcoat  hung artfully from his shoulders. OK, perhaps his clothes were burned, but Lockwood alway wore a dark suit and he was across the street.

George gave me an aggrieved look, then yelled back at our esteemed leader. “THE USUAL!!! SHE’S TOO POWERFUL FOR US!!!” I kinda felt sorry for George, he didn’t have a combat power like Lockwood and I. Were Lockwood had his bladework and I might lightning, George had a more research based power. Hew new everything on a piece of paper if he touched it. He didn’t have to read it, just touch it and it was in his memory forever.

Didn’t stop him from reading his comic books though.

For his car, Lockwood flashed us a bright smile, white and shining even through the smoke. His eyes burned with their familiar fervor. “NONSENSE!!! WE’RE THE BEST!!!!”

Which was when the pavement between us exploded. George and I were thrown one way, Lockwood the other. The cascade of lava fell to earth, red hot stripes breaking apart the pavement. She stepped across them, a wide smile sharp against her face. The pitch black skin was cracked with bright red light, her eyes swirled red and orange. She had a dress of lava, burning harmlessly across her skin. Her hair drifted behind a crown made of onyx, red and orange and yellow and white.

Hellraiser. One of the most powerful superhumans on the planet.

And Lockwood thought we could take her.

Why did I agree to this insane idea?

“LUCY!!! PLAN D!!! PLAN D!!!!!”

I gave a shaky sigh, pushed myself to my feet, and brushed my hands of on my skirt. Bits of charred fabric floated off it as I did so. I pointed my finger at Hellraiser and shot. I shouldn’t of missed, my aim was perfect and all her attention was on Lockwood. Yet somehow, impossible as it seems, she moved too quick for my lightning to follow. The arc of light sizzled against the drops of lava left in her wake, shot over Lockwood’s head, and blasted the side of the building behind him. There was the giant crack of something breaking, but I couldn’t see in front of me, Hellraiser was blocking my view, her cold, amused gaze at contrast to her fiery appearance.

I scrabbled at my belt, yanking my rapier up, sparks of light jumping on the blade. I used it for concentration, grasping my powers in a firm hand, the frantic sparks slowed to a lazy arcing. Hellraiser smilled, her voice sounded from far away. “Oh, honey, don’t you know what they did to you? You are hampered by your dependence. I was like you, and now I am strong.” Her laugh was cold and maniacal, her hand reached towards my face, blistering the air around it. My breath came in gulps, my sword was loose in my grip.

A freezing wind brushed across the street

Great.

Hellraiser turned, lips peeled back and eyes burning, I took a step back, and then another. Hellraiser turned fully, casting out one hand in the direction the breeze had come from. The street broke, gouts of magma shot up and towards the small group heading our way. A wall of ice met it, the street exploded in steem. When the gas cleared, I saw Kat Godwin standing there, her short blond hair perfect and her eyes burning with cold light.

Perfect. Why didn’t I call Flo Bones and then we could see the three way fight of the most powerful supers in London.

Beside Godwin stood her team, Kipps, Vernon, and Shaw. They all had an unconcerned look on their face, as if throwing down with Hellraiser was a daily occurance. Kipps raised his voice, it was amplified by Godwin’s cold wind. “Annabelle Ward, you are under arrest.”

Hellraiser, or Annabelle I should say, smirked at them and put her hands on her hips. “And who's going to do it? These two-bits couldn’t, what makes you think you can?”

Kipps gave a genial smile and gestured to Godwin. “I’m not going to arrest you. She is.” Godwin stepped forward, a small smile on her otherwise emotionally cold face. A glittering dome of force enveloped them. That would be Vernon, his tiny face was bored.

Lockwood made his way over to George and I, his pale face streaked with ash, stepping gingerly over broken pavement and glowing lava. He was annoyed, you could tell by the way his mouth twitched. “Look at that, Kipps is here to steal our thunder.”

“What thunder?” George muttered as he stood up, his pudgy face was smudged and his glasses cracked. I let my blade clatter the the ground, the softened metal, exposed to Annabelle’s heat, bent oddly when it hit the cracked ground.

Lockwood’s jaw tightened. “We could of taken her.”

“Sure you could of, Tony.” A smooth voice, dripping with derision. Quill Kipps. His swanky silver suit glimmered, his jeweled rapier hung by his side. He was like a scrawnier, redheaded, freckled version of Lockwood. Even had the same power. The excellent fighting skills and the ability to imbed his blade with power. Behind him stood the midget Bobby Vernon and the giant Ned Shaw. 

Kipps gave his jackal smile. “Who do you think will win, Kat or Annabel.”

George adjusted his glasses. “Oh, I expect it to be Annabelle, she as much more experience.”

The whole ground shook, the dome of force cracked. We all turned to see Godwin dragging a young woman out by her hair. The woman’s face was pale, her hair was a shade between white and gold, her summer dress cracked with ice in places. Kat tossed her at us in cold contempt. Kipps smirked at George. George looked blankly back.

Ned went over and held Annabelle above the ground, his massive hand engulfing her slender wrists. Kipps gave smile. “You better go Tony, you don’t want to get blamed for the mess” Behind him Vernon gave a authoritative look, well as much of an authoritative look as someone who looks like they’re three can give.

We looked around. The street was on fire, a total of ten cars were destroyed, and the building I had shot was in the process of collapsing. Kipps was right, we didn’t need any more bad publicity. We left, Lockwood with as much dignity as he could muster, which was a lot, George and I less so.

As it turned out, we needn’t of worried. There was something much bigger than Annabelle’s capture in the papers.


	3. Chapter 2

Holly woke me the next morning, a look of wild panic on her perfect face. Normally she would of never stepped into my room, me being a slob and her being a control freak. Like always we were contrasts, she was perfect even in the early morning, and I was a mess. “Lucy,” she panted, her  dark eyes wide and bright with fear, “You need to come down, now.”

“Ok, ok.” I grumbled, glancing at my clock. It was six in the morning, what could possibly need my attention at six in the morning? “How’s the arm?”

“Getting better. Really, I could of helped you guys yesterday.” She started out of my room and down the steps.

“Nah, you wouldn’t of wanted to be there, we got thoroughly trashed. Did Lockwood tell you about it?” I said, following her.

“No, he didn’t.”

“Well, Kipp’s team had to come in and save our butts.”

“Oh.”

We made the rest of our hurried journey to the kitchen in silence. Lockwood was reading the paper, dapper as usual with a grave look on his face. George looked sick, but was chewing resolutely on his doughnut. As Holly and I made our way to the table Lockwood placed the newspaper on the table, his face was very pale and his long elegant hands were shaking. The title of the newspaper jumped out at me, screaming for attention.  **HUNDREDS DEAD IN A MYSTERIOUS ATTACK AGAINST LONDON!** I slowed, “Whats going on?”

Lockwood placed his hands in front of him, intertwined his fingers. His voice shook as he spoke. “Yesterday afternoon, while we were fighting Hellraiser, something struck Chelsea. The whole area is in an impenetrable darkness, and no one in the area has been heard from. Everyone in Chelsea is presumed dead. The area surrounding Chelsea has gone withered and grey, there were very few survivors. Witnesses claim that one minute everything was normal, then the next people, plants, houses, started withering and aging. There were sightings of mist-like creatures seen in the darkness, but whenever anyone gets close to see if there’s actually anything there, they die.  Penelope Fittes is claiming that it is a curse set by Fairfax, one released when Annabelle Ward killed him. Steve Rotwell is claiming that its an alien invasion. A few others are claiming its ghosts-”

“But ghosts don’t exist.” Holly whispered.

Lockwood nodded. “I know, but that what people are saying. Nobody knows anything for sure. Groups of supers are being assigned to Chelsea, in an attempt to keep back whatever it is. Barnes called and explicitly said that we were not to come.” He took a deep breathe, then stood up in one smooth motion. His dark eyes burned. “George, head to the archives, see if you can find anything like this, science-fiction, historically, anything. Could be we have a kid who read a book, powers popped, then built a crazy death machine of doom. Holly, you go talk to Flo. No don’t give that face, yes I know that she's not clean, but next to George she likes you the most. Lucy, go see if you can talk to Kipps, he likes you marginally better than the rest of us.” He started to stride off to the door, his coat flapping behind him.

“Wait, where are you going?” I cried.

He turned and flashed me his best and brightest smile. “Why, to convince Barnes to let us partake in the action of course.” Then he was gone, off to succeed on a task most of us believed he would fail on.

George stole another doughnut from the pile on the table. “I would rather he not succeed in this instance.”

Our stunned silence was answer enough.

 

. . .

 

Of course what the humans didn’t know was that we had been in the world conquering business way too long to attack blindly. No, about fifty or sixty years before we started to show our hand, we had a few agents sent out to scour and find the earth's weaknesses. Ezekiel, Bickerstaff and I, we were the strongest, thus always chosen to scout ahead. I would scour for weaknesses, Ezekiel would attach himself to one person and create vulnerabilities, and Bickerstaff would start getting people ready to accept our coming. Three representative, or more depending on the country. The three of us found our way to London.

Back then there were only a few supers, the most notable among them was Marissa Fittes and Tom Rotwell. Two enterprising humans on the path to create a school for supers to learn how to use their powers. Tom was a relatively stable young man with solid morals, but Marissa, that was a woman who knew what she wanted and would do anything to get it! She had an unhealthy fascination with other worlds, so when Ezekiel appeared to her, she didn’t waste her chance. The two were soon undermining the strength of every super to come their way.

As for Bickerstaff and I, who were more friendly to each other than we were to Ezekiel, we did our jobs. Bickerstaff appeared in a human guise and started to create little cults in London. Ones that worshiped the spirits of other worlds. I did what I always did. I watched and waited and planned.

Eventually we were ready, and simultaneously we struck. All over the world we entered with force, creating homes to stay in during our siege. It was the beginnings of what the humans call the Black Winter.

 

. . .

 

Hello, my name is Holly Monroe, and I am a member of Lockwood & Co. Skull and Lucy seem to be convinced that writing down what happened will help our cause, and Lockwood has reluctantly agreed. He’s not happy though, he doesn’t like what's happening  to the ashling and Lucy. They are, never mind, it will all be explained in time.

So after Lockwood left us on his fool’s quest, we all stood around, stunned. There had been disasters before, people losing control and destroying blocks of London, but never the size of Chelsea. George finished his doughnut quickly, said goodbye, and all but ran to the safety of his archives. I turned to Lucy, who stood there in her pajamas, stiff and frozen. She had picked up the paper, and was scanning through it, her tangled hair veiling her reaction from my sight. She moved suddenly, tossing the paper angrily onto the table and stomping off to the kitchen tops. “Where did George put those donuts!”

I stood nervously, staring at my shoes. “What are you going to do?”

She found the donuts, still in full view on the table, took one, and glared at it. “I’m going to eat this, find Kipps, and beat the information out of him if I have to. No doubt there is some information that the papers don’t have that he is privy to. What are you going to do?”

I made my way to the fridge. “I’m going to make my breakfast shake, buy some licorice, and talk to Flo.”

Lucy made a face. “Good luck with that.” She finished her doughnut, then left waving goodbye. She didn’t give the chance to remind her that she was still in her pajamas, although it wasn’t overly a big deal. It was already cold out and her pajamas looked close enough to clothes to pass muster. I finished my shake, made one final pass over my appearance to make sure everything was in working order, then left to buy some licorice. 

The mood on the street was sour that morning, hushed voices and fearful gazes. Over the  fifty years supers had been appearing, London had become somewhat used to property damage, but this was different. I agreed with them, no super had ever taken out so much so quickly. It wasn’t right. People glared at me and my saber. Lucy and Skull probably haven’t explained, but the rapiers are mostly useless. When supers first started popping up, people wanted ways of identifying them, the rapiers ended up being the answer. Unless you have bladework, they are worthless. But because of my saber, I ended up buying Flo’s licorice quickly. I didn’t want to be targeted by questions or violence.

I made my way to the Thames, were Flo haunted the banks. I stopped at the top steps, unable to move. On the other side of the river there was a giant dome, like a hole in reality. A promise of violence and danger, a few buildings broke out like clawing people, aged till they looked a thousand years old. Even the Thames was affected, it looked thicker and blacker than usual, dark forms seemed to flitter underneath the oily surface. 

“It’s a sight, isn’t it.” 

I jumped, gasping for breath. “Flo! I didn’t see you there!”

She gave me a bored glare from the bottom of the steps. “Obviously.” Her voice was as dry and brittle as the straw hat she wore. “I figured Locky would be sending someone, didn’t think it would be you.”

“George had to go to the archives to research that.” I pointed in the direction of the darkness. “Flo, what’s going on?”

She gave a shrug, shoulders shifting under her horrendous blue puffer jacket. “Yesterday that thing just popped up, stopped at the river, but its growing. Geoffrey went to check it out before I could stop him, he came back a few hours later, only it weren't him. He was all twisted and old and see through. When I came closer to look, it broke apart and attacked me. I destroyed it of course, but it was nasty.” She tilted her head in the direction of the globe. “I would get out of London if I were you, that things not going to stop till it consumes everything here.”

“What about you?” I had never asked why someone as powerful as Flo stayed homeless, sleeping by the Thames. Any hero or villain team would take her gladly, yet she refused to join although she associated with people of both sides. No one would dare tell her to pick a side, she was too powerful and people were too scared.

She gave me a brittle smile, teeth white against her muddied face. “I’ll be fine.”

“You can have my room, I moved out with Danielle last month. Or you could share with George.”

That startled a laugh out of her, a jackal’s cry. “Oh sweety, our relationship isn’t like that. Are Locky and Lucy still mooning over each other?”

“Yes, they are a pair of oblivious fools.” I said it with a forced laugh.

She smiled, “I better stay here then, might be safer.” I tossed her the licorice then turned to go. Her dry voice stopped me. “I might take you up on your offer if this side of the Thames goes under.” Her voice shook and her eyes gleamed. I looked at her, in her tattered and muddied clothes, her wide straw hat, the slight glint of a blade underneath her jacket, her pale face under the mud and wide eyes. I looked at the swirling vortex of blackness behind her. She swallowed. “It’s true, there are things in there, it took a lot of effort to destroy whatever Geoffrey turned into, I don’t want to face dozens. Too much work.” A too tight grin.

I nodded, “Ok, ok, I’ll tell Lockwood.” I left her there with the mud and the muck and the polluted river, I left her there with a sick feeling in my stomach because I knew the truth. Flo Bones, the woman who could take on the best and win, was afraid.

That made me afraid too.


	4. Chapter 3

I was halfway to Chelsea before I noticed a few problems. One, I was still in pajamas. Two, I was spitting off sparks. Three, the most important, I didn’t have my rapier, meaning the police could potentially bring me in. I have never ran faster in my life. Back at Portland Row I dressed in my usual combat boots, turtleneck, leggings, and skirt. I belted on my rapier and headed back out to see if I could find Kipps. The day was cold and crisp, people glared at me from the corner of their eyes. I ignored them, and hailed a taxi this time around.

“Chelsea.” I said as I got in and gave the driver my money.

He half turned to stare at me, he had an oddly greyish skin tone, black hair spiked wildly in the way only bottles of hair gel can manage. His eyes glittered as he appraised my rapier. “Chelsea, eh? Do you know what's going on their?”

I leaned back in my seat. “That's what I’m hoping to find out.”

He chuckled, and the sound sent a unpleasant shiver up my spine. He pulled back into the road. “Still, if you’re going to Chelsea, you must be pretty powerful. What group do you belong to?”

I sighed and looked out of the window, watching the buildings blur by. “Lockwood and Co, and I’m not particularly powerful, I’m just going to see if I can help.”

The driver made a noncommittal noise, and the rest of the way was passed in silence. Until we hit Chelsea that is. It was chaos, there were blocks on the streets, supers in uniforms everywhere, police cars littered the street. I opened the door and got out, ready to go find Kipps, the driver stopped me. The grip on my arm was like ice and his eyes burned. “Be careful out there, I here its dangerous, especially for one as young as you.” He gave the words in an oddly flat tone, as if he really didn’t care a whit about how things ended up.

I broke out of his grasp and hissed, “I’ll be fine.” The driver just grinned, then sped off, nearly running me and a few other supers over. I wiped my arm in disgust and moved into the multicolored crowd.

I found Kipps and his team a few minutes later. He was issuing orders beside a concrete barrier that was cracked and pitted. Behind them was a swirling darkness, forms shifting right under the surface. I moved closer, till I could lean on the concrete. The stone cut into my hands, and for a second in front of me there was a face. A blank gray slate with eye holes and a gaping mouth. A hand yanked into my shoulder and pulled me back. Frost bit into my skin like my turtleneck wasn't there. The hands twirled me around till I was facing a girl with ice grey eyes, short blond hair, and a too pointed chin.

Kat Godwin.

“What are you doing here?” She hissed, her breath was cold and stung my face.

I jerked a thumb at the darkness behind us. “You realize there are things in there.” Electricity danced on the ends of my hair.

She pushed me away from her, and I stumbled back into the barrier. “As if you could take me,” she sneered. She was right, I couldn’t. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t try. I started to gather lightning in my palms. 

A form, slight and redheaded, stepped between us. “Kat, why don’t you head over to Ned and Bobby and make sure they don’t go in while I’ll deal with Lucy here.” He spun towards me with a bright smile on his face, although not as luminous as Lockwood's grin, while Godwin walked away, little flurries flying in her wake. “Now Lucy, I assume Tony sent you to gather information.”

“You would be correct.”

“Well frankly, the papers have pretty much summed it all up.” He tilted his head in the direction of the void. “You saw that thing in there? Well there are a lot of them, and they are pretty tough. It takes a lot to hold them back, more to destroy them. I assume Tony’s trying to get Barnes to let you guys help.”

I nodded.

“Well, he’s going to fail. Barnes is being very selective with who he chooses, and with you guys being group with the highest costs in property damage, well, he simply can’t afford to have you here. Tell Tony he needs to stop playing his little game and realize it's never going to work. There are plenty of groups that would love to have you guys, but this Lockwood and Co thing is ruining any chances you have of getting into a real organization.” He shook his head and tutted, but he seem absolutely sincere.

I glared at him angrily. “I don’t know what problem you have with him but it needs to stop, there are bigger things to worry about.” I gestured at what was behind us.

Kipps sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not what problem I have with him, it’s what problem he has with me. I’m trying my best to keep him alive, but he keeps throwing you guys into more dangerous situations. Do try to keep him safe.”

I threw up my hands. “What is going on between you two? He won’t tell me and George doesn’t know either!”

Kipp’s eyes went cold. “If he won’t tell you, then why don’t you ask Jessica? She would be glad to share.” He strode away back to his team. I stared after him, then turned and stomped away. I had gotten what I came for. 

I ended up walking home, I didn’t want to chance running into that weird taxi driver again.

 

. . .

 

I came home in a slight snit. (For the record this is me speaking, Anthony Lockwood, not Lucy or Holly or George or Quill or that disgusting Skull.) Barnes had refused to listen to my reasonable advice and had kicked me out. ME! Of all people! He just couldn’t accept that my group could help with his problem! Well, eventually he would come here and beg for our help, but whatever, I could be patient till then. 

To calm myself I put the kettle on and stared morosely at the wall. A large frame hung there, the picture vibrant with color. Mom, Dad, Jessica and I, framed against a backdrop of blue sky, white clouds, and golden grasses. We had been in Africa when that picture had been taken, and it hurt to see us all happy there. If it was up to me I would of taken it down a put it away, but somehow it always found its way back to the wall.

The kettle screamed, I jumped, then shook myself out of my memories. I quickly made my cup of tea, loaded a plate with biscuits, and sat down to eat my well earned meal. The doorbell rang, I decided to ignore it. It rang again, and again, and again. I groaned, stood up and made my way to the door. “I’m coming!” 

I yanked open the door, ready to berate whomever had disturbed my wallowing, to find Jessica looking up at me with a raised eyebrow, her lips twitching in amusement. “Brother, how lovely to be finally let into the house I pay for.”

I smiled sheepishly. “Hi sis.” I opened the door wider so she could wheel herself in.

“I wanted to talk to you about something, If you could put the kettle on? That would be great.” I poured her a cup as she watched me, looking for who knows what. Her voice was gentle when she spoke. “Hellraiser, Lockwood?”

I jerked. “How did you know? Never mind,  _ he  _ told you, didn’t he.”

“I shouldn’t have to learn from him. I should learn from you.”

“Whatever.”

She slammed a fist onto her armrest. “Anthony! I want you to look at me, really look at me.” I did. Her hair was drawn back, but a few black curls escaped her bun. Her eyes were dark and tired, her skin pale. She griped her wheelchair with tight knuckles. She looked old and worn. “I don’t want you ending up like me, paralyzed and stuck in the pocket of Fitz. Yes, the money is good, but it is exhausting work, not something you’re cut out for. You will end up like this if you continue to fight people you are not ready for.”

I tried to keep quiet, but is was harder to do that with Jessica, she always knew which buttons to push. “Why are you making Kipps babysit me.”

“It wasn’t his fault.”

“WHY!”

“BECAUSE YOU CAN’T BE TRUSTED TO LOOK AFTER YOURSELF!” She dropped her hand in her palm and sighed. “Because you won’t tell me anything and he is trying his best to redeem himself but you won’t let him.” We fell into uneasy silence, her sipping her tea, I drawing patterns in the table cloth. Finally, she sighed and set her cup down. “Do you know why Quill’s team is so good? It’s because they contain their messes and work together.”

“We do that too.” I sulked.

“Lucy collapsed a building.”

I stayed silent.

“You guys are good for people who just created a group two months ago, but you still need work.”

I groaned theatrically and threw my hands up in the air. “We have been!”

“Well obviously it’s not been working, so try something different. Now, how could you of tackled Hellraiser? Think hard and long.” For the next hour we talked strategies, training sessions, ways to pull my team into the best it could be. This was Jessica’s job, we were lucky that Fitz had seen the genius in a paralyzed girl whose power was useless. Because of the Fitz Institute we had managed to keep Portland Row, had managed to keep our family together.

As to my teams shortcomings, she was right, of course she was, we didn’t have the best teamwork in the world, and we were a little overly fond of property damage, but we were the best, or we would be.

Jessica left soon after our strategy session, she had class to get to, and I had problems to mull over. I didn’t get the chance, the news reports were live at a bank robbery. The place was close, the guy would be easy to beat, and better yet, everyone and their dog was stuck at Chelsea. I called Holly and Lucy and went to go catch a villain.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little something while I work on the major something.

And who was left when Lockwood went galavanting in his ridiculous coat and fighting villains with dangerous powers? Me, little old me. George Cubbins, the best and the brightest and the only one remotely concerned with keeping my skin exactly where it belonged. Lockwood didn’t listen to danger, Lucy would follow Lockwood anywhere, and Holly couldn’t bear letting either of them run off without a watchful eye. Which left me scouring the libraries of London looking for anything remotely connected to giant black domes of doom.

Spoilers! I found nothing.

Not a paragraph, not a footnote, not a sentence, not a word.

I hadn’t looked through the fantasy sections yet, but that was because fantasy tended to be littered with references of brobdingnagian black balls of blight. They just didn’t tend to have creatures coming out of them.

Also brobdingnagian is a real word. The thing you find when you look for them.

So after a day well spent of finding  _ nothing _ , I headed home, expecting similarly somber faces. Instead, I found a celebration. Apparently while I was out getting hard work done, Lockwood and co. actually succeeded in beating up a villain. It wasn’t the abandonment that got to me - I was knew I really couldn’t be counted on in a fight, not with my power - it was the fact that they celebrated without me. They left me a piece of cake. One piece.

I was too tired to complain. I would make sure to give them an earful in the morning.

The next day Lockwood, Lucy and I were eating breakfast. It was bright and cheery outside , the birds sang, It promised to be a crisp, beautiful day. A single, lazy sunbeam fell onto the newspaper in the center of the table. As we ate methodically we stared at the paper like it was a corpse.

“How many people was that George?” Lockwood’s voice was shaking.

I gave the number slowly, then took a bite of my bagel. I really needed to stop picking up newspapers. They never carried good news.

Lucy struck the table with a fist, sparks danced in her hair. “Those idiots! Who the hell let them in?!”

Lockwood picked up the paper and flipped ideally through the pages. “Doesn’t say. Bet they’re all dead though. Why would anybody go inside?”

“Perhaps to see if it was emanating from something.” I answered. We all looked at the paper with horror and disgust. I pushed myself out of my seat. “I’m off to archives to keep on looking.” Perhaps I would find something. Anything. I turned to go, only to see Kipps standing in the doorway of the kitchen, haggard, pale, red eyed, and collapsing.

Needless to say I didn’t get to give Lockwood and Lucy the earful they deserved.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha things go from bad to worse and Kipps just needs a break.

It hadn’t been long since Lucy left when Ned, Kat, and Bobby approached me again. Kat’s face was set with hard disapproving lines while Bobby walked quickly at her side, a worried look on his face. Ned strode beside them, his dark eyes alight with a challenge of some sort. As they got closer, Kat jerked a thumb at Ned. “Tell this big idiot that he’s an idiot.”

I gave them a tired smile. “Why should I? You just did it for me.”

Ned gave a grin with lots of teeth. A shark couldn’t of done better. “Haven’t you heard Quill? Some of the others are thinking of going in there.” He motioned towards the blackness beside us. “Something’s in there that is causing problems, if we go in we could shut it down.”

Kat hissed in displeasure. “If we go in there, we die. It’s as simple as that.”

“Not necessarily,” Bobby murmured, adjusting his jacket cuffs.”Technically, if we have enough people whose powers are greater than the average, then we may stand a small chance.” He inspected his nails as Kat and Ned glared down at him.

“When are you expecting to go in?” I asked Ned, keeping my thoughts to myself. Ned was a bruiser, and our friend and teammate, but he had practically nothing between his ears and mean streak the size of a road. If I told him not to go he would just go anyway. Best thing to do would be to follow him and make sure he didn’t do anything truly idiotic.

Ned stared into the darkness. “Soon. In a few hours maybe” He looked at me, eyes serious. “I’m going.”

Kat growled and Bobby shifted uncomfortably. I could see frost gather at the tips of Kat’s fingers, but she stopped when I shook my head at her. Ned would just break down her ice as quickly as she layered it on him. Instead, I smiled at Ned widely. “I wouldn’t dare dream of stopping you.” If he caught the sarcasm in my voice he didn’t show it. “We’ll go with you, make sure that nothing happens that can’t be stopped.”

Ned nodded, grinned, and then strode of to tell the other idiots that we were joining. Kat rounded on me as soon as he left, fists clenched and  frost crawling on her skin and cracking in her hair. “We are going to die because you wouldn’t tell him no!” Her breath was ice cold as it brushed my face.

Bobby shifted, then snapped his fingers. A dome popped over us. “Our conversation is now sufficiently hidden from those who would eavesdrop.” He hesitated a few seconds, then soldered on. “Quill, I really don’t believe this is a good idea. The strength of these creatures far surpases our own.” His vocabulary always surprised me, after all, he was only ten. Not for the first time I cursed Fitz for letting kids his age join dangerous groups like mine.

I knelt till I was his height, not that it was far to kneel to, and said. “It’s not a good idea. Which is why we are going to do our best to convince him not to go. He won’t listen to us if we say no to his face. Let's hope we get called somewhere else.” I eyed the blackness in distaste. In it a wraith-like figure stood, it’s head tilted slightly. It was silloughted in the darkness, and it was surprisingly easy to make out the outline. A person, a boy, with spiky hair. The figure caught me staring, made a rude gesture, and dissolved. I shook my head and turned back to Bobby who stared at me with wide eyes.

“Promise?” His voice was wobbly. 

“I promise.” I said, and stood up. Kat was still glaring at me, but she had calmed down slightly. The air no longer had that bone cutting chill. I looked at her a gave her a tight grin. It felt more like a grimace. “I won’t let anything get to you.” She raised an eyebrow, neither of us had to mention that if things went bad she would be the one protecting us. Instead she turned sharply and stalked off.

 

. . . 

 

A few hours, and several sneaky attempts at changing Ned’s mind and hopes that we were going to be called to a different section crushed, we stood outside the blackness in thermal gear with others who similarly lacked common sense. There were three teams from Rotwell’s school, another team from Fitz, and seven from groups I had only heard of in passing. Our group of four was the smallest, the largest, Rotwell’s, numbered nine. Beside me Ned bounced on his heels, eager for a fight. Bobby was on my other side, shrinking closer to me with every second. Beyond Bobby stood Kat, the air around her cracking with cold. I kept my hand on my rapiar and my eyes on the veiw in front of us.

In parody of our army, the wispy shadows had coalesced in the darkness. One for each of us, but were we stood still they capered and made rude gestures. The scorn for us flesh and bone creatures was evident. Someone, the leader for the other Fitz team, moved forward. At her step the creatures dissolved, dissipating into the darkness. Bobby made a small noise and I blew out my breath. “You don’t have to go.” I murmed down to him.

“I’m fine. You will require my aid,” came his curt response. I didn’t argue, and slowly, one by one, the teams around us walked into the darkness, swallowed whole. Bobby whimpered again, then waved his hand and a shield formed around us. Ned strode forward and the rest of us followed. Like rain the darkness ran over Bobby’s shield. It was weird, when standing halfway inside, to see half of the world dull and grey and dead and the other bright and vivid and living. And the world within the darkness was not dark, it was like a grainy black and white photograph. Like all the color had been leached out. Dust hung heavily in the air, a light mist lapped against the shield. When I turned around there was only a shell of blackness marking the exit the world we came from.

Where were the other teams?

Kat pointed a finger past me. “There, can you see that?”

“See what?” Ned growled.

“There is something glinting on the ground over there.”

We walked over to the place Kat had gestured too, Bobby clung tightly to my jacket the whole way. Covered in the mist and half buried by the dust was a rapier, the hilt was tarnished, and the blade was broken. We stood for a second. “Look at it. This rapiar has clearly lain here since the globe appeared.” Bobby said, his voice was uncertain.

I moved forward and picked it up. The metal was freezing cold through my gloves. “This is Veronica’s blade.”

Ned thought for a second. “The leader of the other Fitz team?”

“Yes.”

We looked at the blade in my hands. It lay there, almost innocent. I dropped it and watched the mist part as it struck the dirt covered ground. Something screamed in the distance, the sound distorted as if we were under water. “Quill,” Kat’s voice was carefully controlled, “come back into the shield.” 

I stepped back into Bobby’s construction, the mist clinging to the fabric of my jeans. “We’re heading back.”

“No we aren’t.” Ned said, his voice wavering but his stance certain.

“We can’t help them.” I stated.

He jut his chin out. “Yes we can.”

I didn’t ask where this sudden selflessness came from, it was more likely that he wanted a chance to beat something up. “They are dead.” I said, Bobby whimpered beside me. “We can’t help them.”

“You don’t know that.” 

I waved at the remains of the rapiar that was quickly being claimed by the mist. “Veronica had the same power I have.” Blade work was the most common type of power. “She wouldn’t leave her blade. She’s dead Ned. And we need to leave before we die as well.”

Ned gritted his teeth. “We don’t know the whole team is dead. We need to look.”

Bobby’s quavering voice came from my side. “He is right. Some may still survive. We need to look.”

I looked at Kat, but she simply raised her chin and eyebrow. I sighed, I was trying to keep them alive for Pete’s sake! I ran a hand over my cropped hair. “Fine, but when I say we turn back, we turn back.” 

We continued out into the distorted world. The further we got, the weirder and darker it got. Soon I had to summon my power and sheath my blade in light. It illuminated only us and the objects just outside the shield. We were walking down a street, cars abandoned on the road, houses to either side, trees twisted in odd shapes. The mist grew thicker, the air around us wavered like water. There were no shadows, the light of my sword only showed objects not dimension. The whole world had been turned 2-D.

We passed the time in silence.

We found nothing but empty streets.

After what felt like hours we stopped. My voice cracked with every syllable. “We need to turn back. There is no one here.”

This time Ned didn’t argue. We turned back to go the way we came, but froze. “Where did the mist go?” Kat asked.

The street was clear, and way brighter than previously. We no longer needed my power to see. There still were no shadows, and the whole scene still looked flat, but we could now see the cars, houses, and trees clearly. They were all aged, as if hundreds of years older than they actually were. The cars were rusted husks, the houses’ paints were peeling and shutters hung at odd angles, the trees were bare and bark sagged off the wood. Then the whole scene in front of the shield jumped and shifted, the view outside grainy and gray, like a tv that had lost connection. 

I screamed, Bobby screamed, Kat screamed, Ned screamed. The shield buckled then held firm.

Then our view cleared, with us holding onto each other and trying not to topple. The view was the same as before. The cars, the houses, the trees. Nothing had changed. Except for the boy in the middle of the road. He wore clothes too big for him, his frame was skeletal, his skin grey and cracked. His smile showed all his teeth and his eyes burned.  **_“Good death humans! How lovely to see someone was prepared for what you might find! But alas, I am not to play with you. The Seven have claimed your lives. Nevertheless, I’m certain you can do good little o’me a favor, oh?”_ ** Somehow his grin got even wider.  **_“Remember me when you’re ours. For as long as you can remember. And be assured, I will remember you. So if you forget me, I will find you, and make sure you never forget me again.”_ ** The boy laughed and the sound echoed through the space. A large crack sounded behind us, we jumped around to look. One of the trees had fallen onto the street, disintegrating into dirt as we watched. 

“Quill, the being has vanished.” Bobby had never moved from his spot. His face had gone pale, we turned to look. He was right, the boy was gone. 

“Okay, leaving now.” I said.

No one argued, and we all made haste toward the border. We didn’t run, but we didn’t walk either. It wasn’t a good idea to run with weapons, and we all had ours out, even Bobby. The way was bare, there was no mist, but we were cautious. There hadn’t been any mist when the boy appeared either.

Finally Ned asked the question we had all been thinking. “What’s the Seven?”

Kat scowled. “I don’t want to know. Now go!”

There was no sign of the blackness, only the endless grey wastes. Bobby skidded to a halt and we stopped with him. “Where’s the border?” He asked, eyes wild and voice panicked. “We should be able to see it by now!”

**_“You won’t reach it.”_ ** The voice was different than the boy’s had been, more like many speaking at once. Slowly we turned to see seven cowled figures waiting patiently. They looked like monks.

“Looks like we found the Seven.” I muttered at my team

The Seven laughed as one.  **_“Or we found you mortals. Send your strongest. If he defeats us, then the rest may pass.”_ **

Kat growled and stepped forward, but Ned put his arm in front of her and looked at the seven. “I will.”

“Nonsense, I’m much more powerful than you.”

“They are lying, I can buy you guys time to run.” He hissed down at us. Then before we could stop him, he was charging out. The Seven laughed and raced to meet him. I pushed Bobby at Kat, “Keep him safe,” I growled, then I raced after Ned.

We were the only family Ned had. He wanted to keep us safe. I wanted to keep my team safe. Including Ned.

Ned was strong, but the Seven were one. They capered around him as he flailed.  **_“So weak! We shall feed well tonight!”_ ** Ned roared in anger. His skin was going grey.

Bobby screamed.

I jerked around. Something had gotten inside Bobby’s barrier, I don’t know how. I still don’t know how. The thing was a mass of tentacles made of grainy grey mist. Kat had pushed Bobby behind her, ice streamed from her fingers and crystalized on the barrier. “GET NED!” She screamed at me.

I turned back in time to see Ned falling to the ground. His skin, his clothes, his hair, it was all grey and aged. The Seven reached up and up and then crashed down upon him. “NED!” The word was ripped from me. The Seven drifted away from Ned’s fallen form, they were suddenly much more solid and detailed. Their mouths grinned with snaggle teeth under long noses.

**_“Mhhhhmmmm. Delicious.”_ **

Ned’s body dissolved. Someone, me, Kat, Bobby, all three of us, screamed. The Seven laughed. I turned back and ran towards Kat and Bobby. I could help them, I could not help Ned.

Because Ned was dead.

Kat looked at me, face streaked with tears, then she looked past me, and her eyes went wide. Her lips shaped Ned’s name. I looked. Ned was there, standing with the Seven. He was see through and grey and grainy. He was smiling and had a hand reaching out towards me.   **_“Hey, Quill.”_ ** His voice was soft and whispery and his yet not.  **_“I feel strong, powerful, better! You should join us Quill, this is better. The only problem is the HUNGER.”_ ** He grinned at me, eyes bright and. . . and happy.

Someone screamed. It was a sound filled with fear and anger and grief. The whole world went white. Kat. It was Kat. When I could see again, Ned and the Seven and the tencele thing were frozen. Everything around us was frozen. Kat stood their, shaking, tears running down her face. Bobby was crying, so was I.

“Get in, we’re leaving.” Kat’s voice was ice. I did as she said and we made our way to the border. Kat had frozen the way in front of us when she had screamed. Walls of ice framed the path, giving just enough room for Bobby’s shield. It took much longer then it should, but we made our way out.

We were the only ones to do so.

The otherworldly globe had tripled in size.

I sent Bobby and Kat to Jessica’s place.

I made my way to Portland row.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm not dead!  
> I'm sorry for the ghosting, and now that finals are finally over, I will be posting more often. YAY! Thanks you all for your patience and support, you guys are awesome.

Lucy

We all kinda froze there for a second, staring at Kipps’ prone body. Then Lockwood and I were dragging him into the kitchen and then George was dumping a glass of ice water on him and then he was up and screaming. Screaming at us to run. Then he collapsed again and we couldn’t wake him up, even though we shook him and George dumped another glass of water on him. And all I could think was that he was too light, for a full grown man, even a thin and small one. He was too light.

George called the hospital. Lockwood called Jessica. I just stared, because although Kipps was older then us, he wasn’t as old as he looked lying there unconscious on the floor. His skin was almost translucent, you could see the veins, and his hair was no longer its previous copper red, but duller, threaded with grey. It was about that time when I noticed that his skin wasn’t translucent white.

It was translucent grey.

“L-Lockwood?” I asked, was that my voice? It was so shaky. 

He didn’t hear me, too busy speaking to Jessica in a rushed voice, words running together. “Yes, I understand. Collapsed, you say? Okay, I’ll meet you there. I love you, stay safe.” Then he hung up and was punching in a different number. “Holly, I need you to-”

Kipps’ skin was cold, too cold. I felt for a pulse. He shouldn’t of been so cold.

“Yes. 35 Portland Row. What do you mean there’s not an ambulance available? You’re supposed to be the- What do you mean this is happening everywhere? Fuck! We’ll take him ourselves!” 

His wrist was still, the flesh lifeless. “Lockwood! He doesn’t have a pulse!” My voice cracked, panicked. What could I do?

“Fuck!” Lockwood swore, the he dropped the phone and pushed me away from the body, no Kipps, not the body, but Kipps, and put his hands on Kipps’ chest and started to push. CPR. He was doing CPR. George was running out the door yelling something about a taxi, and I could here Holly, faintly, from Lockwood’s dropped phone. I picked it up and held it to my ear.

“What's going on?” Her voice was frantic.

“Meet us at the hospital.” My voice sounded so desperate. There were sparks crawling along my arms. Could I of used them to jump-start his heart? I didn't know the correct voltage! I could have killed him! He didn’t have a pulse!

“Lucy?” Her voice was shaking now.   
“I can’t explain now.” I hung up, hands shaking, and nearly dropped the phone.

Suddenly Lockwood jumped back, eyes wide, face dead white, as Kipps’ back arched. A sound came from his throat, utterly inhuman, a keening, animalistic cry, too high. The glass of the window pane cracked and a light bulb popped and sparked violently. His eyes were wide and blank and unseeing and covered in a grey film. His hair was only a shade of its former color, and his veins no longer looked blue, but black, and they spread up his arms like cracks. Or an infection.

For a second he looked like those figures in the dome, a poorly made, shadowy copy of a human.

Then he collapsed, his breath rattling out from between cracked lips. Tears ran from his eyes, leaving tracks on his grey skin. “Ned.” He croaked.

George rushed in. “I got a taxi!” He panted, grabbing the edge of the door for support. We hustled Kipps to the door, and his feet dragged behind us, a dead weight. A corpse with a pulse, however faint. A corpse that was still breathing, would stay breathing, hopefully. We pushed him into the taxi and crowded behind him, holding him up, our hands gripping his jacket, as if we could keep him with us. Lockwood gave the address and I forked in the money, extra to incite the driver to go faster.

I couldn’t help but think that before this, anyone of us would of been glad to see Kipps dead.

  
  


Skully

I stood in front of the icy cocoons, staring at the seven and the one that had been frozen, sculptures half hidden by the mists. Idiots, all eight of them. Yes, even the new one. Ah well, they had served a purpose, after all, three of the humans had survived. The ones who survived, the ones that were to be taken slowly, were the ones who remembered the most, and remembered the longest.

I had been like that, slowly taken, my mind turning to shadows bit by bit. I think. It was all really a blur. Except for the knowledge that I deserved something greater then to turn into mists one day.

I laid one hand on the ice, the chill penetrating my form.  **“Tsk.”** The one who had done this was powerful, but she knew her power and would be too hard to manipulate, because believed too much in what had been taught. She was not desperate enough for my use.

Just like Annabelle Ward, who didn’t need me to show her the power she could have, who had never been desperate, who didn’t need my guidance.

Ezekiel ruined all the best ones.

I walked to the frozen form of the tentacle thing that had been one of us. Useless, completely useless. Here they where, so certain conquering others would leave to their survival, when all conquering could do was lead to the next generation. Here they were, frozen statues, stuck in a moment. Now utterly useless.

Was I the only one who saw past the lies we were all told, to the truth? But then again, I had always been different, always destined for better things. That was what they had told me, when I was still me, not this thing. That was what they said they had lied about, when they threw me into the dump to be forgotten. That was the one thing that I believed, that made me, me. My past didn’t matter, I was destined for greatness. Being what I am now didn’t hamper me, I had more power this way, I just had to make my throne myself, instead of trusting it to be gifted to me. I was destined for greatness, I had to believe that.

In the stories the older ones told, we get our power from each other, our forgotten memories are a blessing that pushes us forward.

I was the only one who noticed the opposite was true. Not even good ol’ Bickerstaff with all his delusions of importance could see past the lies.

To be remembered was power, to be forgotten was death. Conquering worlds would lead to our downfall, as the conquered don’t remember individuals, but only the crowd. So I made myself known, I chose a form and stuck to it, although the form shifted to the species of each planet, the basics remained the same. I laughed when others poked fun, because they were useless. They didn’t understand that when they were dead, I would would still be strong, still be powerful. Still remembered. That in the end, I would have a throne, and they would be consigned to the mists..

A shame only three survived with my warning. A shame they would soon join us. A shame so many fell, when so many could have remembered.

Idiots all of them. Useless.

It didn’t matter, my plans were falling into place. I had chosen the one who would help me climb my way into history. Now I would just have to wait.

And no one was better at waiting then me.

  
  


Lockwood

I didn’t use to hate Kipps, I used to call him brother. He had been Jessica’s best friend, and I had looked up to him. He and Jessica had been in the same classes, they had trained together, had studied together, talked about crushes together, and they didn’t mind when I poked my nose into their business. They let me join in on their games and fun. He used to give me sword fighting tips.

I used to call him brother.

It wasn’t his fault, logically I knew the accident wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t help that his father was drunk, he didn’t know that Mom, and Dad, and Jessica were in the other car, he couldn’t help the fact that he walked out of the wreck without a scrap. He couldn’t help that my parents stopped breathing and my sister couldn’t walk, and neither him nor his father were injured.

The facts didn't stop me from blaming him, and that blame turned into hatred the more he tried to make up for the crash. Nothing he did could get my parents back, or give Jessica her legs, and with them her future. He tried to watch over me in school and I hated him for it. I hated that he tried to protect me when he couldn’t protect my family. I made sure to get better at everything, better than him, to show him I didn’t need his help, didn’t want his help. 

I think he started to hate me too, if just a little. But Jessica was still his friend, and she pushed us both to make up. It wasn’t his fault. But, I couldn’t stop blaming him, and he couldn’t stop blaming himself.

I used to call him brother.

And now I sat with Jessica and my team in the waiting room of a hospital, waiting to see if he would survive whatever had happened to him in the dome.

I used to call him brother.

I never had the chance to tell him that I didn’t blame him anymore, and that I just couldn’t bring myself to forgive him. Not when he kept on coming in and saving our buts every time we did something stupid.

I used to call him brother.

So I sat there beside Jessica, clenching her hand in the middle of a hospital full of people turning grey and dying, and then turning into something else entirely. We sat there hoping Kipps wouldn’t be next. We sat there hoping that Kipps wouldn’t wake up and have to be told that Bobby and Kat were in the same condition he was in. We sat there hoping he wouldn’t wake up and have to be told that Bobby and Kat were no longer among the living. We sat there hoping his team wouldn’t die and be turned into monsters, that he wouldn’t die and be turned into a monster.

I used to call him brother.

I hoped I could call him that again.


	8. Chapter 7

Lucy

I didn’t notice at first, I was too busy watching Lockwood, who was sitting down and gripping Jessica’s hand tightly. He didn’t look real, like something made out of light and shadow. His dark eyes were staring far off into the distance at something I couldn’t see. He almost looked like he was going to cry, but he didn’t. He looked like one touch could shatter him. His breath billowed out in front of him in little white clouds. 

Wait. It was cold in here, but not that cold.

I looked at Holly, who looked at me. She was fine, no ice breath, but George on the other hand. George was shivering violently, and his glasses had little patterns on them, like the patterns you get on windows early in the morning after a freezing night. The walls were covered with those patterns too, and when I looked down at my hand, the patterns were there as well, melting onto my skin.

Someone screamed.

There was a second of frozen silence, then whole hospital broke into chaos. Alarms started to go off, people in white coats rushed too and fro. Lockword jumped up, his moves jerky, and drew his sword. Jessica drew her sword as well. Arctic air rushed through the hallway, and ice crackled along the walls. People froze, literally. We all took cover, dodging behind chairs. All except Jessica, who simply raised her blade, and then had a swirling ball of red energy around her. The scream had stopped, but had started up again with the alarms, it blended into the sound to create a unholy cacophony.

We had seen this power enough to know that it belonged to Kat Godwin.

Then the screaming stopped again as suddenly as it had begun, and the arctic wind stilled as well. The lights popped with a sharp crack and the room was plunged into darkness. I immediately summoned my lightning till it crawled along my clothes and crackled in my hair. My power was not the only source of light, Holly had summoned a flame that danced along her fingertips and gave a wavering glow, Lockwood’s rapier was seethed in a golden light. His cry split the silence, “Jessica!”

The giant ball of frozen ice, barely able to be seen, cracked suddenly and slid off of Jessica’s barrier. The red globe gave off a stronger light then even my lightning. She gave Lockwood a wide smile, so that was were he had gotten it from, and said in a slightly chiding tone. “I can take care of myself, little brother. There are also people who need to be unfrozen. I don’t want to tell Kat that she killed someone.”

She had a point, and we got to work.

 

Kipps

The first thing I noticed was the hunger, like someone had hollowed out my stomach and taken with it all the meals I had ever eaten. The second thing I noticed was the darkness, black and endless, with the littlest curls of mist, barely able to be seen. The third thing I noticed was that my chest wasn’t moving. I wasn’t breathing.

I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound escaped my lungs. There were sounds all around me, but they were muffled, like my ears were stuffed with cotton. I jerked up and I felt my arm phase through something. The sounds were louder now, more urgent. But I was so hungry it hurt, and the pain distracted me from those sounds. 

Something grabbed my arm, and there was a sharp pain in the position of where my vein would be, then pain everywhere. Burning, fiery pain. And I was breathing again, was no longer so hungry. The things pushed me down, and I felt things being strapped on my arms and legs. The sounds I could almost make out now. They were voices, talking about how close it was, something about adrenaline.

Kat. Bobby. Where were they? I think I said it out loud because one of the voices said they were okay. But . . . hadn’t I left them with Jessica? 

Then the thoughts were fleeing my mind, because I was jerking and not breathing and hungry again. Then there was pain and I was normal again.

So the cycle went, over and over. Monster then not. Monster then not. Monster then not.

And the curls of mist were getting ever thicker.

 

Lockwood

I had placed George and Lucy on guard duty. George’s power was useless here, and Lucy couldn’t melt the ice without shocking the person underneath. Holly, Jessica, and I were left cutting people out of the ice. Holly may of not had a large flame, but she was precise with it. Jessica had always been powerful. I was making do, in that stylish way I did.

George’s voice interrupted our work. “Lockwood, look at the ground.” I did, or I looked at the mist that was covering the ground. Where had that come from?

“Lockwood,” Lucy’s voice, shakier than normal, “There’s something coming.”

She was by the opening to the hallway, hand grasping her rapier hilt, the other covered in glowing sparks. “It could just be another doctor.” I said. I really hoped it was just a doctor.

“It’s not.” Her voice was suddenly certain. “It’s not human.”

“What do you mean it's not human?” Jessica asked, pausing briefly, glowing sword hovering in the air

Lucy’s voice came back even shriller. “It’s not human!”

I turned around and looked, and Lucy was right, there was something coming down the hallway. And it wasn’t human. It was a duck, a giant duck made of mist. I think I should of been scared, but the fear wasn’t coming. “It’s a duck.”

“A duck?” Holly repeated.

“A duck.” George confirmed.

“Yes, I know it’s a duck! But It’s not a duck either!” Lucy shot back at us, lightning crawled along her body with her agitation.

I looked closer, and to my surprise, Lucy was right. It was not just a duck. It was a giant duck made of mist with razor like claws coming out off its wings, and a serrated beak. A dragon duck. A dragon duck walking down the hallway of a frozen hospital with not lights and a suspicious mist. I may of snorted slightly. Lucy shot a glare at me, her eyes glowing, then turned and directed a sparking stream of light at the duck. The duck gave a sad “quack” and disappeared into tendrils of mist. 

“Nice shot.” I said.

There was an explosion, and I was thrown off my feet, George tumbled against the wall, so did Holly, and Lucy was thrown into the hallway. Jessica. I pushed myself up to see that she had rolled over to the other entrance, and had a sparking red barrier in the doorway, blade angled horizontally across it. Something was pounding against the barrier. Something large that vaguely resembled an overweight giant. There was a yell behind us. I twisted to see Lucy scrambling backwards, no blade to be seen, and the dragon duck above her. The one that she had just blown to pieces.

And there were two more figures drifting in her direction, one small and slight, the other large, dark and hulking. Suddenly the situation was looking much less humorous.


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Fourth of July!!

Skull

There’s something to be said about silence, not the silence between conversations, but the silence where even the sound of breathing is too loud. It’s the silence that reminds people of creatures hidden and ready to pounce, it’s the silence of gathered power, of secrets that are hidden and covered in dust, locked away for the greater good. It was in that endless, heavy, suffocating silence that I walked down the hallway of a hospital in a world that was not my own. Occasionally I would come across someone, human or ashiling, but mostly I drifted along with my fingers trailing against the wall, pulled by that sense of power that thrummed in the back of my mind.

Something caught my arm, a curl of mist that formed fingers from some other race. The words flickered past my ears.  **_“Hurry, we do not have much time.”_ **

**_“Not much time?”_ ** I let a frown pull across my human shaped face.  **_“Interesting.”_ **

**_“Can you feel it? Something disrupts our power here, shakes it off.”_ **

**_“Of course I feel it you dimwit! Now scamper! I have business to attend to.”_ **

The curl tightened around my arm.  **_“These humans have something that fights the sickness. We will not gather as much as we hoped.”_ **

**_“And your point is?”_ ** I growled forcefully.  **_“Every world has something that fights the sickness. Yet every world has failed. This world will be no different!”_ ** Faced with my fury, the thing that had once been ashling but had now surrendered itself to the hive mind of the mists fled.

I gave myself a shake, then shifted to a more fluid form as I sped to the disturbance. As mindless as the ashling had been, he had not been wrong. There was something weakening the grasp of the dark and the mists and the silence. Something that crackled in the back of my mind like static. The thought brought me to a stop. The girl? Could it be? It was possible.

It seemed I had found someone I could use. It seemed my decision was right. Well, of course it was, it was me after all.

I started to grin.

I continued forward, felt the mists try to claim me. I ignored their pull and took my other form when I drew close to where that power crackled. I placed my hand on the wall when I nearly staggered, took a deep breath. That power, it both took away and added to what I had. Glorious. And so useful.

I looked into the room in front of me, it was a waiting room. On the other side a woman in a wheelchair held out one of those stupid swords. In front of her a red barrier held an ashling that was too tall and too round at bay, even as his massive fists struck the shield and sent sparks cascading to the ground. Across the room there was a slim boy with a sword sheathed in glowing gold, a fat boy who had his rapier out and a nervous look on his face, and dark skinned girl with a fire flickering on her fingertips. There was also a girl whose hair and skin crackled with electricity. On the ashling side, there was the big man, an idiot who had taken the form of a giant murderous duck, and the two that were light and dark, slim and tall, and where really only one being. 

**_“Time’s up. Got to go.”_ ** I hissed. Most of the humans didn’t see me, or hear me, but the girl with the electricity? She did, you could see it in the widening of her glowing eyes.

For a second I thought the idiots would argue, sometimes blood lust trumps common sense, but then they scattered into the mist and fled. I met the girl’s eyes and gave a skeletal grin. She gave a cry and shot a bolt of lightning at me. It skittered across the wall to my right, missing me by lots. Yes, desperate, malleable, and told that her power could not be controlled. She would do nicely. I blew her a kiss then shifted back into mist form and got the hell out of dodge.

Because that burning bright light with all that desperation and fear? That was energy, pure energy, and something that our magics could not smother completely. Take a couple hits from that and even the strongest, like myself, would be hurting. And the weakest? Dead meat.

I couldn’t stop cackling in that heavy, watching, silence as I sped my way to base camp.

Lucy

We stood there, rapiers out, breaths coming in great plumes, as the mist slowly receded, as the lights started to flicker on with an electrical hum. I felt my lightning sink back into my skin as the danger passed. I turned towards Lockwood, his face stared out at the receding shapes, his skin bone white in the flickering light, his hair a pool of blackness, his eyes chips of dark shadow. I'd never seen him look so fragile, so breakable. He looked more like those creatures then the thing with the skeletal grin had. “Lockwood.” I breathed, fear flickering across my face as his blank stare continued.

He snapped out of it, dark hair brushing against his brow as he turned to look at me, a ghost of a smile twisting his lips. Then he was giving me a full on luminous grin as he started to issue orders. “Jessica, Holly, and I will stay here and finish cutting people out of the ice. Lucy, you and George will go and make sure Kipps is all right. And Kat and Bobby, of course.” 

George adjusted his glasses. “You’re only giving me Lucy?”   
“Excuse me?!” I shot.

Lockwood's smile went a little more strained. “You saw how effective her power was. Stop complaining.”   
“Well don’t blame me if something goes horribly wrong and we all die.”

“WHAT!!!! What does me going with you have to do with your untimely demise?”

“Well you saw those things, they were drawn to your power. Couldn’t get enough of you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh? I thought you knew. And I’m supposed to be the blind one.”

“SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU!!” George and I froze and turned to look at Lockwood. His eyes burned, he was no longer smiling. He looked on the verge of crying. “If you’re going to argue, argue on the way to Kipps.” He gave a jerk of his head towards Holly and Jessica.

Holly’s small flame quivered on the end of her finger tips, jerking and spitting and almost out of control. I’d never seen Holly’s flames anything less than perfectly candle flame smooth, not something that looked a few steps away from a miniature inferno. Jessica had rolled over and was helping Holly free the doctor, her blade hissing red sparks as she cut into the ice. She spoke quietly, and I could not hear the words she spoke.

“Okay,” I said, taking a breath and calming down, “Okay.” I grabbed hold of George’s arm and pulled him behind me. “Come on and let’s check on Kipps.”

“You’re forgetting about Godwin and Vernan.” George said, his voice a monotone. “Lockwood almost forgot about them too.”

“Of course, of course. Godwin and Vernan too.” We left Lockwood, Holly, and Jessica in that little waiting room. We moved silently, rapiers out, dodging frozen blocks of people. The ice was starting to melt, our breath no longer plumed. “Which room is Kipps in?”

“Room 42.”

We passed in silence for a little while longer, our eyes focused mainly on the doors to either side. Sometimes these doors would hang open, the occupants gone. There was a darkness in those empty  rooms, shadows too thick and too wide, lights too dim. “George,” My voice sounded as if it was far away, “What did you mean when you said the things were drawn to me?”

Georges voice came from my side. “Ever since you got that first shot off, the attacks were focused on you? You didn’t notice?”

I shook my head, and my hair brushed my face. I winced away from it, it felt too much like cold fingertips against my skin. “No, I didn’t.” In truth, much of the battle had gone by in a blur. After that initial shot, all I could remember where flashes. The feel of electricity dancing on my skin, The mist swallowing my vision when I tripped, the two things that had the vague form of a child and a hulking man dancing past Lockwood’s sword, the heat of Holly’s fire, burning all over her hands. What I remembered clearest, past the fear and the mist, was the thing leaning against the wall. The thing that looked like a boy my age, but in black and white with spiky hair and a grin that revealed all its teeth.

“This is the door.” George had halted before one, his fingers on the handle. He turned and pushed and the door swung wide. There were nurses and doctors running around. Kipps was sitting upright on the bed, hooked up to an IV. His skin was pale and sallow, his hair lank and dull, and his eyes were ringed in circles. There was no trace of gray in his hair or skin. My hand hit the door frame, my knees were suddenly weak. George’s glasses slipped down his nose, his jaw swung.

Kipps gave us a smirk that was a shade of his usual expression. “Well if it isn’t two of Lockwood and co. Hows Kat and Bobby?”


	10. Chapter 9

 

Lucy

 

**Multitudes Dead in Attack on Hospitals all Over London!**

Last night, many lives were lost when the creatures that have taken over Chelsea attacked hospitals everywhere. These attacks were mostly focused on hospitals that held patients with superpowers. “These beings targeted hospitals that are dedicated towards superheroes who have been injured in the line of duty,” said Detective Montegue Barns, “These people have been relocated to safe houses, with hospital staff to keep them healthy.”

“It was horrible,” Say Mrs. Hope, an eyewitness who survived the attack, “One minute everything was fine, and the next it was dark and there were creatures everywhere. I managed to hide in a broom closet, but it wasn’t till later that I found out that my husband went missing during the attack. One of the nurses claimed that she saw one of the creatures touch him, and he when grey and started changing!”

But it is not all bad news, Steve Rotwell believes that a way to fight back is close to be being discovered. “It seems,” he said, “That in the case of an infection, an injection of adrenaline is a good counteraction towards the sickness. Victims who survived claimed of suffering dizzy spells and shortness of breath before they started to change. With this knowledge in mind, it seems that these creatures feed on energy, which means we can find a way to defeat them.”

More information on the attack can be found on page 2

A list of victims believed to be dead or missing can be found on page 4

Possible solutions to these attacks can be found on page 10

 

Kipps tossed the newspaper to his bedside table with an angry sigh, the motion nearly knocked the IV stand over. Lockwood jerked up, “Careful!” His voice was shrill, face tight.

We were in Portland Row, in Jessica’s old room, and this was where we were housing Kipps until he got better. Barnes hadn’t exactly been lying when he’d said that the patients had been moved to secure locations, it was just secure locations meant superhero bases. Kipps was staying with us, yay us, while Bobby and Kat were staying at Jessica’s. The two had made it, though in the same condition as Kipps, weak, fragile, and tired.

Racheal, Holly’s girlfriend, who coincidentally worked at the hospital, had just left. Holly had gone with her to make sure she stayed safe during the drive to their apartment. Kipps had used Racheal’s absence to act as unrestrained as physically possible for someone who was still exhausted.

“Possible solutions?” Kipps cried, “What possible solutions can their be if these creatures drain energy and then take over your body?” He sagged in his bed, even that use of energy draining him.

While Lockwood hovered over Kipps nervously, filling in for Racheal and Holly’s presence, George adjusted his glasses. “Well, if they drain energy, they must have a limit of energy they can hold, right? So therefore, if we can keep the body full of energy, they won’t be able to take enough to take us over.”

I patted Kipps’ arm consolingly and dragged Lockwood’s mothering to a stop. “Which makes it a good thing that you’re staying with us, since I’m probably the only person in London who will never run out of energy.”

“Oh yes, you, the master of blowing up buildings.” Kipps snarked, but he didn’t sound like he was putting his energy behind the words. Still, I tried not to wince at the dig targeted at my control skills, he did, after all, have a point.

“That's not the problem we have to worry about,” said George, adjusting his glasses again, “The real problem is that we might be getting more activity around this area.”

Lockwood, who had been doing the staring into space thing after I ground him to a halt, frowned. His hair fell over his forehead and shaded his eyes, making the expression menacing, even on his elegant face. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, thanks to Lucy here, we have one of the biggest power sources in London. If these creatures do feed on energy, then they will be drawn to the sources to build their . . . nests around them. Even if these sources overload these creatures and destroy them, they will flock to them like moths to a flame. Lucy here is one of those flames.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well that makes me feel so much better.”

“Nests?” Lockwood looked quizzically at George.

George didn’t squirm, but I detected a faint area of unease about him. “Well, it’s better then saying big black balls of doom.”

We all groaned, and settled down. George went back to drinking tea, Kipps stared at the ceiling morosely, Lockwood sat on the edge of the bed and stared out the window. The light hit his face, playing on the contours of his cheeks, gracing the line of his nose, turning his dark hair into something gleaming and bright. His lips were slightly parted, his dark eyes unfocused, his chin rested on his hands, elbows balanced on his knees.

Something sparked and fizzled near my eye, a piece of my hair dangled there, and a tiny lightning bolt crawled along it. I plucked it off and let it slip in between my fingers, wrapping the digits in a withe-blue light. Another little bolt crawled along the sleeve of my turtleneck. My power had been like this since the hospital, buzzing underneath the surface of my skin, begging to be released. My blood hummed, my bones burned, energy crackled in every movement I made. It was as if something that had been holding my power back had been removed, and now it was flooding me, trying to escape.

I didn’t like it, I didn’t like the way it thretend to escape my grasp. It felt like if I did let it go, I might burn the whole house down. I’d never had much control, but now it was as if control was a foreign concept I’d never heard off.

I shot to my feet, tucked my fingers behind my back to hide their jitteriness, to hide the light playing on my fingertips. Practice. That's what I needed. Practice. After that, this feeling would go away. I moistened my lips. “I’m going to the sword room.” I waited, no one said anything. I turned and left, and before I knew it, I was drawing my sword and facing one of the dummies. 

I blinked my eyes, I didn’t remember going down two flights of stairs and a kitchen, but hear I was. Oh well. I took a breath, took my stance, lunged. I did drills, lunge, parry, repost. As I went through the motions, I focused, allowed my brain to drift. My movement’s weren’t as fluid as normal, more jerky, but that wasn’t the point, the point was to breathe. The point was to rest. 

I closed my eyes, continued the pattern. Lunge, parry, repost, parry, repost, parry, repost, over and over. Something settled over me, a blanket made of energy, I concentrated, tried to pull the feeling into my skin. Tried imagining arcs of electricity sinking into my veins.

Lunge, parry, repost, parry, repost, parry, repost.

“Oh Lucy! There’s were you went to!”

I yelped, my foot landed oddly, rolled, I went down hissing in pain. Lockwood clattered down the rest of the steps. “Shoot! Lucy, are you all right?” His hastened to my side.

I grimace, felt my ankle, rolled it around a little. Nothing broken, and only a slight twinge when I moved it. The buzzing sensation in my skin was back. “Yeah, I’m fine, just landed wrong.”

“I’ll get some ice.” I was about to protest that I didn’t need it, but he was gone before I could say the words. With a groan, I moved to one of the chairs after placing my sword on the rack, I propped my foot on another chair. I didn’t really hurt, and for a second, I thought I saw a little lightning bolt crawling on my sock, but it must of been a trick of the light. Lockwood came back, removed my shoe and placed the ice pack on my ankle. He crouched there, grinning at me. “Practicing a new trick?”

“What, no. Why do you ask?” 

“Well,” he turned his eyes away from me, almost embarrassed, but after a second, he met my eyes again, “you were glowing. I’ve never seen you do anything like that before. It was pretty cool.” He smiled at me, his brilliant one.

I smiled back. “I was just feeling jittery, and wanted to get the nerves out.”

“Ahh.” We looked away from another nervously, and he removed his hand from the ice pack. He pulled up a chair and sat down on it. We sat in silence, sneaking glances at each other, but whenever we met each other's gaze, we would look away again.

Finally, I broke the silence. “Do you think there is a cure?”

He met my eyes. “What? I was thinking of something else.”

“The infection, or whatever it is. Do you think there’s a cure?”

“I’m not sure. Possibly.” He smiled slightly. “But that’s for other people to figure out, not us.”

I groaned, leaned back. “Life was so much simpler when we sucked at being superheroes. Now there’s things that might be ghosts or aliens or the remains of a curse infecting people and attempting to take over the world.” I could feel the electricity sparking under my skin at my words.

“Were superheros Luce, it’s our job to save the world.” He smiled at me, so big and bright and truthful, “No matter how weird it gets, we will always persevere and come out on top. That's why we’re superheroes.”

Looking back, it seems so silly to believe him. But right then, in the practice room with ice on my ankle and energy burning through my veins, I couldn't not believe him. When he said words in that tone of voice, no matter the odds, he seemed like he could never be wrong. But the worlds not that way, and sometimes superheroes don’t win.

Not without paying the price.

And not without help from dark things.

 

Flo

 

I sat on the edge of the Thames, breathing in the river scent. Balanced on my knees was my digger, glinting sharply in the faint light. The sunlight was dimmed, as if a grey veil had covered the sky. Color leached out to make a gray scale world. Across the Thames, in the blackness that swam on the other side, creatures made of shadow and mist gathered. They hovered at the edge of the Thames, gathered, uncertain.

They should be uncertain, they should be afraid. The area around the Thames was mine, no villain or hero dared stake it out because I claimed it as my own. There were people with power like Annie Ward and Kat Godwin, and then there were people like me. People who were on a whole another level entirely. 

I traced my blade with my finger. The metal shimmered a pearly white under my touch. I found it in my first years of walking the Thames, buried in an alien spacecraft that had sunk beneath the river muck. Unlike earthen metals, this one resonated with my power, to move, to change, to manipulate.

One of the shades moved forward, over the water. Nothing happened. Slowly others followed, grey forms flowing over the dark waters. With a groan, I got up, my knees cracked with the movement. I held my digger in one hand, held the other loosely open. More shades moved over the water.

Ten.

Twenty.

Thirty.

I lifted my hand, felt the world shift. The waters of the Thames turned, twisting out, spreading away from beings, who stopped, surprised.That was all I needed. I snapped my hands closed, and the waters of the Thames shut on the main group like a vice, around me, the ground roared, jerked down, the sand spewed away from me, leaving me in a crater, ten feet wide. 

I breathed, stared, the waters lifted, up and up. It reached towards the sky, a towering pillar. Tighter, and tighter the waters spun. The few that escaped my power, spread out, shot towards me.

It felt wondrous, to stretch my power after so long constraining it.

I flicked my digger in the direction of one of the creatures, it started to break apart, shaking, collapsing, gone. One hand still pointed at the waterspout, I flicked the digger, the blade elongated, twisting into a long, pale, whip. 

I moved my whip towards the last four creatures, it slashed and bit, moving impossibly, stretching farther. I dropped the waterspout, twisted my hand. The last four beings exploded, grey shards dissolving into emptiness. The whip snapped back into blade form, the waters of the Thames sloshed back into place. The creatures on the other side froze.

I flicked my blade, the metal twisted, blurred, longer and longer, thiner and thiner, till it was a glittering thread. It snapped just short of the bank on the other side, rebound back to my hand, snapped back into the form I wished it. 

My point made, I shot myself into the air, waved my hand. The sand and mud shifted, covering the crater I had made. My boots sunk back into soft, river mud.

I had not lied to Holly when I said one had been difficult to kill, but that was when I had been hiding my power, containing it. Pretending that it was not the sort of power that could bring down islands. Like what had happened to Atlantis, so long ago. Someone like me only came around every few centuries.

I was done hiding.


	11. Chapter 10

Lucy

 

The days passed, slowly, calmly. There were no more attacks, the nest was silent. Our days fell into our old routine, training, fighting the minnows that robbed banks and gas stations. The air felt heavy, expectant, like there was a storm on the horizon. That's what it felt like, the silence before the storm that would crash upon us all. The question hovered on the horizon like storm clouds: would we whether the storm? Or would it sweep us away?

Then slowly, things started to change, so slowly people didn’t notice at first. The nest got larger, a couple centimeters a day, sometimes more. There were attacks, disappearances, and nobody realized what was happening until another of the nests appeared. A couple miles away from Portland Row.

Nobody went to the Thames anymore, nobody dared. It was too dangerous. On one side you had the nest, full of things made of shadow and smoke. On the other you had Flo, who was holding back the advance of the things singlehandedly. There were reports of creatures in the waters, beings in the air. The Thames was no longer a place for mortals or people of average powers.

Kipps stayed with us. He was still weak and fragile, but he was getting better slowly. He and Lockwood had made up, and Kipps’s cutting jabs were more because of habit then because he was trying to hurt us. He even practiced with us sometimes, and to our surprise, we worked well together. We even talked about teaming up with his group occasionally.

Racheal was also at Portland Row most mornings, there to keep a watch on Kipps and Holly. She had a calm, controlled factor, but in honesty was about as reckless as me. She refused to be terrified of the beings that came after dark, even with no power to call her own.

The papers said Steve Rotwell was still looking for something to hold back the beings from the nests. Penelope Fitz hid herself from the spotlight, and was supposedly talking to scientists across the globe to determine ways to stop the nests from spreading. The people taken were written off as dead, there was no more hope that they could be changed back.

Slowly the days got more dangerous. More nests popped up, all near power sources, electric plants and the like. The one near our house spread, the one in Chelsea gobbled up ground with a steady pace. The nights were no longer safe. They were filled with mist and shadows and anyone one who left their houses were never seen again. Some people disappeared from their houses as well. 

Sometimes the shadows walked during the day, and we would find ourselves fighting them. More often than not they were by Portland Row, and they sought me out on the battlefield. 

My power remained uncontrolled, though I managed to hide it fairly well. Whenever the incessant buzzing started up in my skin and bones and blood I hid downstairs to practice. It didn’t help, and sometimes I wondered if all the training was making the burning worse. Time seemed to skip more often, I would have the intent to go somewhere and then be there without knowing how I got there. I was clumsier as well, and kept running into things. It was like I was unraveling, and some nights I would lay in my bed and stifle my screaming because my whole body hurt like it had been struck by lightning repeatedly.

It felt like I was dying.

It felt like I was being reborn.

It was painful and glorious and I wanted it to stop.

And then the storm broke.

We were at the kitchen table. I was drawing listlessly on the tablecloth, something thin and bone-like, something that resembled the kid in hospital that had smirked at me, Lockwood was reading a gossip magazine, long legs and arms placed elegantly, George was making notes on a piece of paper, Holly ate yogurt and held hands with Racheal, whose head was tipped back as she listened to the music on her head phones, and Kipps drank his coffee and stared into the distance with a haunted look on his face. It was like every other evening, we were tired, but didn’t want to go to bed for fear that  one of us would be taken. As if the lights from the lamps would be enough to prevent attack.

Our weary silence was shattered by the ringing of the phone. “I’ll get it.” Lockwood stood up, his face was pale and drawn, he had shadows under his eyes. His wide, bright grin made these things marks of courage instead of the toll of nights of restless sleep. I watched him as he walked out of the kitchen, his stride long and smooth, his clothes immaculate, his hair shining.

I rubbed a bruise on my forearm and ignored the prickling under my skin. “Who do you think it is?” I said wearily, today we had fought another one of the shadow things. We were all bruised and battered, and George had been touched. But luckily all superhero teams were required to have adrenaline on hand now, and he was okay.

George pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at me. “Don’t know. How are you doing? I thought that thing had touched you.”   
Racheal pulled off her earphones and looked at me, eyes sharp. “Did it? If it did, you have to tell me now.”

I shook my head, not meeting his gaze, under the table a spark crawled over my leggings. “It didn’t.” It almost had, I had felt the chill, the freezing cold against my skin, but I had managed to pull out of the way in time. I think. It didn’t matter, I wasn’t turning grey, I wasn’t hungry. I was buzzing and burning and I needed to expend some energy.

Holly squeezed Rachel's hand, “Lucy’s quick,” she murmured, “she wasn’t touched. How are you doing?”   
Racheal snorted. “Running ragged watching over my girlfriend and patient.” She sent an annoyed look at Kipps. He’d joined us today in the battle, had helped with the creature. He had stopped Lockwood from being touched.

Kipps started. “Huh? I wasn’t paying attention.” He did that a lot, I was pretty sure that it was left over from the touch, and that eventually it would go away.

Racheal caught Holly’s eye and grinned. “Nothing.” Holly giggled slightly.

Lockwood came into the room, surprise and confusion on his face. He was frowning slightly, and his dark eyes glittered. “That was Detective Barns.”

“What did he want?” George asked, shock plain on his face.

“Apparently to tell us to come to Chelsea tomorrow. They’re arranging an attack.”

Kipps jerked completely out of his revere. “What! That’s crazy! You saw what happened to us.” His eyes were wide, and his chalk white face made his hair stand out starkly.

Lockwood sat down, the movement smooth, his body draped across the chair. “That’s what I told him. But apparently they have a plan.” He leaned forward, and his eyes burned bright and sharp. “Apparently they’ve managed to make a vaccine of some kind, it helps prevents the take over or disease or sickness or whatever they’re calling it now. They’ve also managed to find a way to boost the effectiveness of adrenaline. Anyone walking into that nest will have a good chance of walking out of there.” He placed his hands on the table and leaned over it to stare at us. “It’s been determined that there is something in the Chelsea nest that is letting these beings in. Or creating them.” He picked up my pen and started to draw on the tablecloth, a large black circle with a squiggly mark on one side. “This,” he said, “is Chelsea. The idea is to have three teams. On one side,” He drew a bunch of little arrows. “Is to be a host of lesser superhero groups. They’re a distraction. They are supposed to make a giant ruckus and draw the things attention. On this side,” He drew a lesser amount of bigger arrows. “Are the bigger and more powerful superhero teams. They are supposed to enter the nest and see if they can find a portal or some device and close it. A secondary agenda is to shut down the power plant there. Finally,” He drew a single bold arrow behind the squiggly line, “Flo will enter from here and kill as many of these beings as possible. Her secondary agenda is to see if she can find the portal or device or the power plant and shut it down.” He slumped back down, ginned at us. “I think it has a good chance at working.”

George frowned and cleaned of his glasses. “How have they tested the vaccine and the . . . super adrenaline?”

Lockwood shrugged. “Classified, apparently.”

“Which group would we be in?” I asked.

“Group one.”

“Lockwood, I can’t.” We looked at Kipps, his face was so pale it looked gray, and his eyes were wide and dilated. “I can’t go in there again. I can’t.”

“You won’t” Racheal said. “I’m not letting you, you are nowhere near being healthy enough for this. None of you are.” Her gaze drifted to all of us. “Have you looked at yourselves? You’re stretched thin, half-dead, exhausted, struggling, take  your pick. You aren’t ready.”

“We have to go.” Holly’s voice was soft, but firm. “This is our chance to turn the tide. We have to take it.”

Lockwood nodded. “Holly’s right, which is why instead of telling Barnes off, I agreed.”

“Lockwood-”

“Kipps, you don’t have to go. You keep the house safe. The rest of us are going. This isn’t a discussion.”

George and I looked at each other, then nodded. “What’s there to discuss?” I asked.

Lockwood’s answering grin was wide and bright.

In the distance, thunder rumbled, and the skies split and the rain crashed upon the roof of 35 Portland Row.


	12. Chapter 11

Skull

 

There was a stirring in the hive, a rumbling note of unrest. With a moment's hesitation, I dispelled my form and flowed into the mist. Thoughts brushed past me, disjointed with excitement, and I pulled myself out before I got lost in them. I rolled my eyes towards the dark sky at the obvious ploy. It seemed that the humans were amassing. A large gathering in the north, a smaller one in the southeast. The lightning girl would be in one of them, the wheels of my plan were beginning to turn. 

I glided through the mists, towards the barrier in the southwest. The humans were fainting, definitely with the first group, maybe with the second. I didn’t tell my fellows, if they didn’t know by now they would find out later. I reformed fully once I was beside that dark curtain, the barrier between reality and nightmares, then stepped through towards the light. As soon as I did, something bright and sharp flicked by my ear, and across the river, the human girl stood, the metal of her weapon shimmering in the air.

**_“Hey,”_ ** I complained,  **_“Completely unnecessary. I’m not here to fight.”_ **

She settled herself, weight balanced evenly, even from here I could see that her eyes were glowing. “If you’re not here to fight, then why are you here?” Her voice, though it wasn’t spoken above a whisper, crackled in my ears.

**_“Just curious.”_ ** I said,  **_“What would you do if there were more like you?”_ ** I too kept my weight balanced. Two could play at that game, and I was positive that I could move back to the darkness before she could strike me down with her weapon.

Her eyes narrowed, “There are none like me. At least none in England.”

**_“But there used to be dozens, even in smaller areas then this London. They were worshiped as gods.”_** I grinned with all my teeth showing and got ready to move.

“How the hell do you know that?” She snapped.

I shrugged. **_“Some of us hide better than most. And some of you are nothing but empty shells. Toddles!”_**  I waved my fingers then shot back into the welcoming darkness before her alien metal could cut me in two. Let my words stew in her head, perhaps her doubt would be the key to taking her down. And perhaps she would survive and take my words to someone higher up. I didn’t care, either way would suit my needs.

 

Lucy

 

How long were we to wait? I rubbed the palms of my hands against my leggings and tried to ignore the prickling under my skin. Lockwood caught my agitation, and he smiled at me, eyes glittering. “Don’t worry Lucy, the order will come soon.”

I nodded, but didn’t say anything. I thought that if I opened my mouth, all the pent up energy would come rushing out in one devastating stream of light. I watched him as he turned away to speak to Holly, he was calm and composed, to look at him you would have never guessed that we were running into a suicide mission. Now, standing before the darkness, his promises of likely return were far away and covered in mist. All that mattered now was the darkness and what lay in it. Not the vaccine that had been administered on arrival. Not the adrenaline shots that lined my belt. Nothing but the darkness and the creatures that waited for us.

Above us, thunder rumbled and the hairs on the back of my neck lifted.

“I hope it won’t rain.” George said, adjusting his glasses, “The fire starters will have a harder time of it if it rains.” George, having the worst power for fighting, was decked out in various items besides his sword. I didn’t know what they all contained, but many looked like incendiary devices.

“You know,” I said noncommittally after forcing down some of the energy that buzzed in my veins, “when Lockwood told us this plan, he did overlook the fact that were going into the nest.” My fingers tapped patterns against my legs, looking down, I saw a spark crawl along my bootlace. My eyes felt like they were burning, I screwed them shut and clenched my fists.

“Yes, well, can’t particularly blame him.” George pulled his belt up and started to check the vials. “By the way, are you okay? You’re glowing.”

I winced, “Just nervous.”

“You didn’t used to glow when nervous.”

Lockwood turned back towards us, smiling widely. He clapped me on his shoulder, then drew back with a yelp. “Lucy, you shocked me.”

“Sorry,” I didn’t look at him, even with my eyes closed, the brief flash of light had still made itself known to my presence. My shoulder was warm where his hand had lain, if only briefly.

The sky rumbled again, but the grey clouds didn’t spit open. I bit my cheek to keep myself from crying out in pain as the electricity shot from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

I tasted the coppery tang of blood.

Thunder rumbled again, but there was no flash of light from the clouds. Thunder without lighting. 

In front of us the darkness swirled.

Every inch of my skin burned.

Somewhere, someone called the command. I didn’t hear it, I just saw the first wave move, the mobile people who could clear a path for the slow. I don’t remember pulling my sword, but suddenly the weight was heavy in my hands. I don’t remember moving, but suddenly I was with the fastest of them, and the pain under my skin lessened.

A little voice in my mind told me that I wasn’t supposed to be up front, that my duty was to stay with my team, to protect them.

Some part of me didn’t care.

But most of me was afraid that I’d just lost control.

Above me, thunder rumbled.

 

Lockwood

 

I stared blankly at the spot Lucy had just been, my mind trying to comprehend what had just happened. She’d moved so fast there wasn’t even a blur, only a scent of ozone lingered in the air. George adjusted his glasses. “Interesting. She’s using her lighting to boost her speed. Wonder when she learned that.”

Holly whirled on George. “That’s not the problem! She’s out of position, and she’s all alone out there! How long can she keep that up?”

“Judging from her power reserves, I think about five seconds.”

I didn’t hear, all I could see were little instances. Lazy sparks in her hair, a jitteriness in her hands, the way I would look away for an instant and then she’d be gone. A cold pit open up in my stomach, fear froze my veins, but I shook myself out of it, we had to move, the people around us where still swirling forwards in a rush. “It doesn’t matter, we stick to the plan, and we meet up with Lucy in there.” I pointed towards the darkness. We started forward, and as we moved, I compressed my fear into a little ball and shoved it deep down and locked it away.

Above us, thunder rumbled.

 

Lucy

 

I skidded to a stop, and the mist in front of me blew out. For the first time I caught glimpses of lightning around my feet. My sword was covered in the stuff. The place wasn’t as dark as I’d expected, it was just devoid of shadow, but that was all that I could catch. Something rushed me, and I moved faster than I thought, out of the way and spinning my blade through its middle and through. Unlike the dragon duck, it did not reform, instead it burst. For a second, I thought the shadowy, misty air flickered. But no, it was just my eyes deceiving me.

I took a deep breath and steadied myself, listening for the sounds of other groups. There was nothing, no sounds of fighting, no screaming, no yelling. I’d moved too fast and had left the group behind.

I was alone.

And some part of me didn’t care.

Around me, the things were rising up, broken things that chanted and spoke and had a paper doll look. I dropped my rapier and spun in a circle, and lighting burst from my hands, a bright arcing stream. I screamed as the energy rushed up my arms and through my bones. I fell to one knee, gasping as tears trickled down my face. I was alone again, and the mist things were gone. Still, some of the fog clung to my ankles. 

Thunder rumbled. 

I looked up in shock. Above me, clouds were building, grey ones, with flashes of light in them.  

A storm? In here? How was that possible?

I stood, and between my fingers electricity arced. I looked down at the mists that were regathering. I could feel my face cracking into a smile, felt the electricity sizzle between my teeth, felt it spark and crackle in my hair. I didn’t feel human, I felt like something made of pure energy, a bolt of lightning. That was what I was. No wonder the storm had none, I’d stolen it all.

I squatted and placed my fingers an inch above the ground, the mists swallowed them to the wrist. I pushed, all that energy that had been building up in me I pushed out and into the mists. I screamed in pain as they mists conducted my power, and above me, the sky roared. I felt more than saw lightning jump from the clouds to the ground. The mists around me glowed briefly, then disintegrated with a shriek that hurt my ears. 

I collapsed sideways onto the ground as unconsciousness tried to claim me. My last view was the lighting in front of me. A solid barrier connecting sky and ground.

Above me, thunder rumbled.

 

Flo

 

I took a breath, and waited till I heard the call, no the roar as the first team started forwards. Even this far away I could hear it, borne on the winds that now answered to me. I walked forwards, onto the waters of the Thames, and continued walking towards the darkness. In my hand, my blade had snapped back into the form of a short-sword, but I could feel it’s hunger and it’s readiness to move. Beneath my feet, the liquid solidified, and around me, the water shifted forms to those of old myths and creatures spawned from dreams.

I was a general with an army of nightmares and together we stepped into the darkness.

Above us, thunder rumbled.

 

Skull

 

I was at the gate, staring at the dark slice of nothingness in reality. All my plans, all my schemes, it would be for nothing if she was not as powerful as she seemed. The mists stirred into a frenzy.  **_“Intruders!”_ ** They screamed.  **_“Intruders to the north, southwest, and southeast!”_ ** Aha, so the river girl was joining the party too, how delightful.

A hand grabbed my shoulder, I twisted out of the grip and turned to see Ezekiel, his eyes glowing gold. It was not a color often seen in here, where darkness was everything and everything was in shades of grey.  **_“What are you doing here?”_ ** I asked, **_“Shouldn't you be playing with your human toy?”_ **

Thunder rumbled.

We both jumped, and whatever retort Ezekiel had planned died with the sound.  **_“A storm? In here? How?”_ ** He turned towards me.  **_“Wipe that grin off your face! This is disastrous!”_ **

I replaced my grin with a frown.  **_“Of course it is.”_ ** I saw it before Ezekiel did, the wave of power that turned the mists blue. I floated into the air, but Ezekiel was too slow. He jittered in place as the electricity crawled up him. The very air vibrated with the power. Unfortunately he was too strong for that blast to take him out.

The mists, however, disintegrated. But they would be back. They always came back.

**_“Deal with that!”_ ** He cried, and I left before he could do anything else. Something foreign was curling in me. Was it uncertainty? No, not that. Yes the blast had been powerful enough to shake the very foundations of the darkness, of our reality. But that was a good thing, right?

Above me, thunder rumbled.

Flo

 

I left most of my creatures at the border fighting. They were tied to the Thames, and I couldn’t take them far with me. Creatures rushed me as I went deeper, but they fell easily to the fluid metal of my blade and the howling winds that I controlled. 

Thunder rumbled.

I paused and looked up. Clouds were building in the darkness, lightning flashed in their depths.  **_“What would you do if there were more like you?”_ ** Wasn’t that what the shadow boy had said? I shook my head, my brain was swimming with possibilities.

The mists around me reached out and grabbed, hands and tentacles forming around my arms and legs, dragging me down. I was too slow, confused and distracted, they bound me up so I couldn’t move. It didn’t matter, I didn’t need my arms and legs to fight. I concentrated, putting all my will into the mists, but I was too slow once again, something got to them first. 

The mists burst with white light, electricity sank into my skin and bones. I screamed and arced as the mists around me burned away. I tasted the raw power on my tongue, full of fear and pain, completely out of control. For a second I couldn’t move, my limbs locked in place. Then I pushed myself up and struggled to my feet. I made my way back towards my army. I could not do anything else in the condition I was in.

I was not alone.

Above me, thunder rumbled.

 

Lockwood

 

I don’t know how long we fought when the final blow came. I was swinging my sword, the golden aura hissing through the air. George was throwing his contraptions around, and they burst into flames whenever they impacted something. Holly’s flame danced in the darkness, impossibly bright against the grayness. 

Thunder rumbled.

I couldn’t think of how, but I knew it had to be someones doing. This cold, grey place didn’t seem the type for thunderstorms. But the thought flitted out of my mind as soon as another of the grey things rushed me.

Then it came, power surged up through the mists and into my legs. I screamed, and around me I heard similar cries of pain. The being in front of me shattered and disappeared. The mists were scattered, for the first time I could see my feet. At the edge of my vision, I could see a bright burning light. 

“RETREAT!” Someone called, the blast had been too much. It had destroyed the enemy, but we were in no condition to fight.

“NO!.” Out there, the bright burning light stayed. “Lucy’s out there! We can’t leave her!”

George grabbed one of my arms and Holly the other. They started to yank me back. I fought. George yelled in my ear. “We’re in no condition to continue!”

“We’ll find her.” Holly murmured.

How? How would we find her? A grey shadow with her smile and her eyes waiting on the steps of the house? Another enemy on the battlefield? I continued to struggle. “LUCY!” They restrained me and pulled me away from that bright light, quickly being covered by the mists. “LUCY!”

Above us, thunder rumbled.


End file.
